'New beginnings': Fourmile community helps sculptor Jerry Wingren

Local sculptor Jerry Wingren makes a toast with his friends during the annual summer solstice party Saturday at his home in the Fourmile Canyon area of Boulder County. (Jeremy Papasso, Camera)

Last year's Fourmile Fire claimed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Jerry Wingren's sculptures, his library, family heirlooms, many tools and a sprawling studio that had grown bit by bit in the mountains above Boulder for nearly four decades.

Saturday, Wingren stood on the 5-day-old concrete pad that will be the floor of his new studio and filled shot glasses arrayed in a Fibonacci sequence with akvavit, the traditional herbed liquor of Scandinavia.

(The number of glasses in each row was the sum of the number of glasses in each previous row. The sequence describes many natural forms and appears frequently in Wingren's work.)

"We're about to do a ceremony," he called to the dozens of friends, neighbors, patrons and disciples who had gathered for Wingren's annual solstice party, before raising his glass. "To new beginnings!"

The fire and what it took from Wingren remains a raw subject. The sculptor's eyes turn red and watery, and he simply shakes his head when a reporter asks how he first came to the mountains, four decades ago.

"This is my new landscape," he tells one guest as he gestures at the fire-scarred ridge to the north.

Wingren saved just a few sculpting tools and his computer in the 15 minutes he had to pack before evacuating.

One building remained on the property when he returned.

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Its steps had burned, and some pink residue found there hinted that fire retardant was dropped just in time to save it.

Friends and neighbors have taken on much of the work of rebuilding to allow Wingren to focus on his art. Boulder architecture firm Arch11 donated the design of the studio. Others have donated lumber, the use of earth-moving equipment and labor.

Originally, they had hoped to have the studio rebuilt in time for the solstice party. That proved overly ambitious.

As the time for the party neared, Wingren was increasingly "desperate" to get something finished, said Ethan Jackson, one of many helpers who work for Wingren.

The solstice party represents continuity for Wingren, Jackson said. To not hold it would have been devastating.

The concrete pad was poured on Tuesday.

E.J. Mead, a principal architect at Arch11, met Wingren at a solstice party 12 years ago. He tried to honor the natural, elemental qualities of Wingren's work in the design, while recognizing that the new studio will not replace the old one.

"The thing that was here was amazing," Mead said. "It had grown organically over 40 years. How do you re-create that?"

Rolland Fischer, a Fourmile resident who runs heavy equipment and dynamited the hill for the new studio, said the entire community has come together to help Wingren.

"It's one of the few good-news stories to come out of this fire," he said.

As the sun dipped closer to the horizon and the shadows lengthened, Wingren called for another round of akvakit.

"It feels good because we've gotten a lot done, but it's hard to reflect on what we lost," said John Andrade, another of Wingren's friends and helpers. "But it's about moving forward. We need to feel like things are somewhat normal. This feels somewhat normal."